In light of this complex situation, we have had to make some difficult, but necessary, decisions to ensure the sustainability of LACWHN and provide continuity to the organization's outstanding political work in the region coordinating its diverse membership.

The Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network, LACWHN, a regional network of individual women and organizations that defend and promote the right to health as a human right and a social good, joins in and strongly supports the citizens' movements today in Chile that are calling for profound structural reform of public education in this country, demanding that education be fully guaranteed by the State to be free of charge, of good quality and with equity of access, with an emphasis on secular, non-sexist and non-discriminatory education.

We must remember that our thematic networks, like LACWHN, were born in a very specific historical moment, about 25 years ago, when we were coming to the end of a very intense stage in the struggles against dictatorships in several of our countries in the region, very brutal dictatorships that had been responsible for terrible violations of universal human rights.

In this regard, LACWHN has to adopt structures that are useful and appropriate for the Network's political work, for promoting its agenda, and this agenda must also respond to the challenges of this 21st century.

Capacity building of LACWHN and the women's health movement in terms of production of knowledge; dissemination of this information; informed and daring advocacy; broad communication with ICT development, social mobilization and alliances with other movements and political forces.

LACWHN was born in 1984, at a time when a rich tapestry of women's organizations working on health, quality of life, community support and the struggle for democracy simultaneously began to unfold in several countries of the region.

For example, the Campana Punto Final a la Violencia contra las Mujeres (Campaign to End Violence against Women), which LACWHN is promoting in four countries of the region--Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala and Haiti--with support from Oxfam, has the following objectives: to promote a change in social attitudes and beliefs related to discrimination, inequalities and inequities that sustain and promote violence against women in the region, while generating a collective position visible from all levels of the community against violence against women and strengthening social and institutional responses to prevent violence.

In attendance were: LACWHN members; representatives of Focal Points of the September 28 Campaign for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean; members of the Dutch organization, Women on Waves; and observers from international organizations and agencies, including Amnesty International, Mama Cash and the International Women's Health Coalition, IWHC.

At the same time, LACWHN coordinates the Campana Punto Final hacia la Violencia contra las Mujeres (Campaign to End Violence Against Women) in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a first stage taking place in Brazil, Bolivia, Haiti and Guatemala.

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